What About the Cleans?

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pjrake

Inspired
When it comes to live settings, the high gain amps get alot of advice and suggestions. For example, to cut through and sit in the mix nicely, the mids should be up; use low/hi cut in the cab blocks; less gain is better in gig volume, etc.

However, when it comes to clean tones, there isn't alot of mention. Heck, I don't even spend that much time dialing in clean tones... it's all about the high gain!

So, my question is: what are some guidelines, suggestions when it comes to dialing in some really nice clean tones in a live setting. Do you low/hi cut? What about the mids? etc, etc.

PJ
 
So many different clean flavors in this box but I'll give you my take.
I'm not in front of my Axe right now, but what I remember doing to make my "go to" clean sound was:
1. Guitar pickup selector switch in position #4 (#1 being the bridge, #5 being the neck)
2. 1st block was compressor (I like the sound of "studio compressor best, but check 'em all out.)
3. Amp: Vox AC30 TB (preamp gain turned down of course, adjust tone controls to taste)
4. Cab (I can't remember which cab I settled on, sorry, but they all have different tonalities.)
5. I then added a little bit of chorus
6. I then added a little bit of delay
7. I then added a little bit of reverb
It was there. Not that much work required for me.
Hope this helps, and again, I'm sorry I don't have the details in front of me now, but this will get you started for a clean tone that I found to be very pleasing to my ear.
 
What got me hooked this time around with the AF2 are the cleans. I know a lot of folks around here will probably disagree -- but it is a lot easier to get od/high gain out of modelers than it is to get cleans with convincing dynamics. The cleans in the little black box are stellar.

My two favorites are the Fender Twin and the dumble clean channel. Keys are getting input/drive low (around 3 for twin) and adjusting the input trim (.5 to 1). Set MV on Twin to 10. If I am playing at a gig (gig volume) I have the bright switch off. If I am at home playing at low volumes I turn the bright switch on.
 
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Checkout LVC's presets on AxeChange.

Great examples of clean tones for HB and SC.

They translated really well to my guitars and speakers (CLR's).

Also, I agree, clean tones are the weak link of other modelers I've tried. The Line 6 stuff in particular. All the cleans sound like 80's rock processed cleans, think Whitesnake. While not a bad tone per se, the Line 6 stuff struggles with just a bread and butter Fender clean tone.

The AxeFx II though, is stunning with clean tones.

All the amp models in the AxeFx clean up to one degree or another.

The Marshalls sound great clean IMO.
 
IMO, the stock "studio clean" preset gets me most if the way there. Then I tweak the bass/mid/treb for the actual guitar that I'll be using.
 
I agree with the OPs - the Axe has plenty of clean tone sources on tap. But - whether its clean tones or high gain - you should also be aware of sonic footprint when crafting your tones.

One thing that occurred to me just prior to a recent session I had with a 5-piece acoustic-electric group (with keys and vocals) you should always create/tweak your presets in the sonic context of the gig.

Ask yourself for each setting, am I in a guitar-bass-drum trio (in which case you can create/tweak presets to have a large sonic footprint in stereo), or am I in a larger ensemble adding keys, vocals, other guitarists, horns or even a big band into the mix (in which case you would be wise to narrow your footprint as needed with, say, hi and or low cuts).

In my case (above) I created a clean stereo preset the night before the gig, based on the Expanding Delay preset in Bank C. I added two drive peddles in series for a gig featuring me (on electric with Suhr HSH split coil pickups), an acoustic guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and a percussionist on a Cajon Box Drum.

All effects in the preset were dialed waaaayyyyy down - I wanted a distinct voice that would only bite or growl when I dug in with the pick/finger attack.

I ended up with a large sonic footprint in stereo. I also added a touch of phasor dialed down too so that it added to the sonic voice of the tone (but without being perceptible that a phasor was always on in the preset).

It was beautiful - for what I was going for - but, I instantly realized as everyone sat down and started to warm/tune up (all at the same time mind you) that this beautiful clean tone with parallel digital delays (set at 1/4 and 1/8 - again - dialed way back) was going to be hogging up too much spectrum in the bass and lower mid space (clashing with the bassist and keyboadist).

So I used the Axe Edit GUI to quickly hit the bass cut switch and dial the bass control back from 2 o'clock to about 10 o'clock.

Redundant? Probably. Point is you can tweak your sonic footprint quickly and narrow it (or expand it) in about 5 seconds or less.

I am not an Axe expert (at all - I'm a newbie) but, even doing things the wrong way with this box seems to yield fantastic results - tone wise - if you trust your ears, use your head and musical intuition, and just experiment freely ... and then share.

Other Fractalites will generously chime in (in my experience) and offer their suggestions on how to achieve tone nirvana. :)

Oh yes, and READ!!! Yek and others are an endless source for how to set effects, levels, build presets, and use your imagination to make miracles with this box.
 
Interesting question. Just wandering what most clean players here use as their default amp? Any fusions players here with good clean sounds/suggestions?
I prefer the Shiva clean with EV12Ls cab block for most clean presets. Sometimes USA clean or ODS clean. Using a strat most of the times. Besides these three I don't use other amps for cleans but I am always up for suggestions.
 
Deluxe Reverb for me, it just sounds stellar in a band mix. Some of the others mentioned sound fantastic also but just don't work for me in a band mix. FWIW I find it harder to get a great clean than an OD on any amp.
 
I find the cleans relatively easy to dial in. I like the Delux Reverb, the Shiva Clean, the Maz 38 and on occasion the AC30TB
 
pjrake said:
my question is: what are some guidelines, suggestions when it comes to dialing in some really nice clean tones in a live setting. Do you low/hi cut? What about the mids? etc, etc
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For bright clean I use a Bandmaster amp block. For warmer cleans, with a touch of grit when I pick hard, it's a Bassman. In both cases I use the amp block EQ to remove lows: 50Hz is -12dB, 125Hz is around -3dB.

For added punch in a band mix I use one of Scott's tricks: a 3dB peaking filter somewhere between 350 and 500 Hz. This is really useful for lifting the volume without taking your hands from the strings, for example to play a fill between verses, or to change volume between verse and chorus.

There's also a touch of digital reverb run in parallel with the dry signal. If I use chorus then this is also in parallel. Reverbed chorus doesn't sound right to me.
 
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